Braids, Socks, and Middle Earth: A Hobbit Fanfiction
by AngelaAssButt
Summary: Falling out of a tree and waking up in in Middle-Earth, not to mention in her pyjamas, was most definitely not part of Averie's daily routine. (Apologies for my lack of ability to write an intriguing and a generally good summary) Rated M for the colourful Australian vocabulary.
1. Chapter 1

Braids, socks and Middle Earth: A hobbit Fanfiction

**QUICKIE A/N: Hi all! Yes this is my first ever fanfiction and I'm a little nervous about it (I've read so many amazing ones and they've just inspired me to attempt to write my own!) but hopefully you enjoy :) Tell me what you think, give me as many pointers and tips as you see fit! **

**DISCLAIMER: I, most regrettably, do not own anything to do with the amazing work of the brilliant Mr Tolkien or Mr Jackson nor do I have any claim to it (other than my unwavering love and faith.. if that makes sense)**

CHAPTER 1:

Despite it being the middle of summer, the Victorian Alps persisted to have what seemed to be a permanently cool temperature. However, the queer weather did not bother Averie much, as she had been born and raised in the climate of the high country. Said female was currently laying in her bed, staring blankly up at the wooden roofing of her bedroom. She glanced at the digital clock on her desk, the red numbers laughing at her inability to sleep. It was almost two o'clock in the ridiculously early morning, and from when she had laid down her head to sleep four hours ago, she had not so much as batted an eyelid.

Averie frowned at the ceiling; if she was to follow her normal routine she would be sleeping now and would wake in two hours. She wasn't sure why sleep had evaded her this night, perhaps it was because she was slightly worried about her father- She'd heard that someone wouldn't sleep if they were worrying- but she knew that he would be alright, he always was. He had descended down from their mountain home along with the company of Uncle Seb that evening and, like always, the two would be visiting the local pub. If his brother was with him she knew her father would be fine and would return to her in the morning hung-over and cursing the persistent light of the sun.

Averie sighed after looking at her clock again, it was now two o'clock exactly and she had decided that she would most definitely not be getting any sleep. She threw off the thick cotton blankets and heavy duvet and swung her legs over to the side of her bed, her socked feet almost touching the cool wooden floor. Goosebumps spread across her skin, it was colder than she thought.

She walked over to the window and studied the area; from what she could make out in the dark morning there was a soft icy gleam to the grass. Frost wasn't uncommon in summer so she didn't think much of it walked over to her cupboard. Although it was cold Averie didn't feel like going to the trouble of venturing through her cupboard with a size and unpredictable nature similar to that of Narnia. If she dared to expedition through the unruly environment of her wardrobe she would most likely become trapped in there for all eternity.

Averie opted for her tattered pair of originally black converse and her favourite oil skin jacket worn over an oversized white t-shirt and black cotton pyjama shorts. On her way out the door she quickly grabbed her thick woollen beanie from the floor and was pulling it over her braided hair as she walked through the old wooden house and to the front porch.

She shivered slightly and hugged herself and after looking out into the thick forest of trees for several seconds, made her way over to her favourite tree. The Eucalyptus tree was a broad, sturdy tree that towered over the others in the area. She smiled as she ran her hand over its white bark, unsurprised to find it still smooth regardless of its seemingly eternal life, she hadn't climbed it in ages. Averie jumped and clasped her hands tightly around the lowest branch and pulled herself up high enough to swing her legs of the thick branch. She climbed higher through the tree and its clumps of branches, determined to reach the top. The morning dew had caused her to lose her footing several times but, thankfully, her arms would always quickly shoot out and cling onto the some part of the tree, preventing her fall and possible death.

By the time she had reached the top of the tree she predicted it was roughly close to three meaning that the sun would be up very soon, if she looked hard enough she could make out slivers of orange and pink streaks beginning to break upon the glistening trees and rocky hills. She sat on the sturdiest branch she could find, there were some a tad thinner than the one she was on at the moment but she didn't feel like risking her life to test the strength of a branch. It was a 20 foot drop to the ground and Averie had decided that she'd much rather look at the ground than be dead on it.

Her legs hung freely from the branch as she pondered through her memories. She smiled lazily when she remembered Uncle Seb teaching her curse words, words that young ladies should not know, and the shade of angry red her father had turned when he picked her up early from her first day of school, he had been asked not to bring her back until the following week. She'd had a soapy mouth for at least a month.

The loud chatter of birds had brought her out of her reminiscing. A small blur of motion flew past her head and landed on her branch. The sudden surprise had caused her heart to flutter and lose her balance but she quickly regained it. "Rude" she grumbled as she glowered at the Kookaburra. The bird however, was perched closely to her side its eyes latched onto hers. At first she thought of talking to the bird but quickly ended that trail of thought, she may have been tired but no so deliriously much as to start conversing with an overly bold bird.

She sat staring at it with an unimpressed look hoping it would move so she could get down and start her day but he remained still on the branch, the cheeky bugger looking at her almost mockingly. She was sure if he had eyebrows they would most certainly be raised back at her. Just before Averie's patience had ended the Kookaburra broke the staring contest with a strangled retch, and finalised it by leaving her with a regurgitated breakfast on her hand. She stared at the bird in silent anger "You fucking little shit" Her dark, low growl must have somehow registered with the kookaburra that if he didn't flee immediately he would be fed to a cat.

Once the bird had left she wiped the remnants of half-digested insects (or at least that's what she told herself the grey clumps were) onto a nearby branch and began her descent. The sun was beginning to rise, covering everything in soft light and warmth. Her feet were surer and steadier on the way down, the feel of the tree coming back to her.

The newly found familiarity had given rise to the notion that she could go faster down the tree. At first it was a good idea, in fact a great idea. She was loving the feeling of excitement as she pushed herself to practically glide down the tree. Oh yes it was great fun, until she misplaced her right foot. To this day the last thing she was able to recall was the deep rumble of a foreign voice.

The bright morning sun shone through the window and onto her face, the sensation of warmth slowly causing her to wake. At first she didn't open her eyes and just smiled into the softness of her pillow, she was too comfortable to even care that she had most likely slept in. Her father could chastise her for it later if he wanted. She was in a lazy bliss, even considering going back to sleep but then something clicked within in her mind. _Dad wouldn't let me sleep in this late ever_. She frowned, her eyes still closed. Even if her father was experiencing consequences of drinking from the night before he would still be awake, and in this situation who would be dragging her out of bed. Her bed was another thing that was beginning to concern her. Originally she thought she had slept strangely and her mattress felt odd underneath her- as mentioned before her process of though was slightly disorientated- but as she forced herself to focus on the feeling of the surface she realised she was not in her bed at all.

Her eyes snapped opened. She was most definitely not in her bed. She sat up quickly and instantly regretted it. Her head throbbed in pain as did the rest of her body however, she took no notice of the condition she was in, but to where she was. She was in a forest of scattered trees that she had never seen before, nor had she ever encountered any of the other various plants she saw. Even the grass was different; it was a thicker, brighter version of the mountain grasses she was familiar with. _What is going on? _

And then she remembered the fall. Irrational thoughts plagued her mind and soon quick harsh breaths were trembling through her shaking body. _Oh god I'm dead. I'm dead. I'm dead. _She ran her hands over her braided hair. _I'm never going to see anyone again. Not dad, not uncle Seb, not anyone. _She clenched her fists tightly together, her short finger nails managing to dig into the palms of her hands. Somewhere in the midst of her hysterical thoughts, something clicked. _Pain. _

She forced herself to slow her breath and open her hands, staring at the crescent dents she had inflicted on her palms. She could feel the small sting they left. _Pain _she thought again. If she was dead she wouldn't be able to feel the pain, would she? She took a deep breath. If she was dead she wouldn't be breathing. Heck if she was dead she wouldn't be thinking!

Even now that she had managed to pull herself to her senses and establish that she wasn't dead, she was still utterly confused. If she wasn't dead or comatose (She had ruled it out of her list of possibilities also) that means that she had been physically taken from her home and left in a forest that was most likely not even in Australia. However, Averie had decided not to spend too long pondering on questions that probably wouldn't be answered, or at least they would remain answered until she found people. But to do that she would actually have to get off the ground and go look.

When she first attempted to get to her feet gravity had decided to screw her over and land her on her back with a soft _thud_. Thankfully her second attempt was successful, although she did stagger on her feet a few moments before her hand reached out to a nearby tree for support. The slight heaviness of her head, inability to stand straight and a very noticeable headache confirmed her suspicions of a concussion.

She shook as she slowly transferred her entire weight to her feet, but she gritted her against the twinges of pain and continued. She knew this wouldn't be the hardest part of her day. Averie assessed herself; her clothing was a little damp but, other than the loss of her beanie, was the same; she had a few bruises forming on her legs, torso and mainly back but nothing felt broken. Overall all she could have been worse.

Now she had to figure out there the hell she was. Averie, despite her small stature, never had issues with climbing trees. However, she'd never attempted to climb one whilst being concussed, bruised, and battered. It had taken her roughly an hour to find a tree low enough for her to climb with ease and another to actually reach the top. It was a slow and painful process but as she did before, she gritted her teeth and continued.

When her head broke through the canopy of leaves she'd had to place a hand over her eyes in order to see without being blinded by the mi-day sun. If she wasn't annoyed with the world she would have acknowledged the beauty of the landscape around her; hundreds of different shades of green spread over everything she could see, and if she concentrated enough she could make out a distinct and straight patch of brown roughly three kilometres, or at least she had estimated. It wasn't much evidence of a road but she had no other signs of civilisation. She made her way down the tree and began off in the direction of the possible road as quickly as she could in her injured state.

Averie was beyond annoyed. She was furious. The concussion had started to dull but the aches all over her body had only increased. As a result, her fastest pace was a stiff limp. At first her bearing was the sun itself as it had been in direct line with the road but the sun sunk lower in the sky as she stumbled through the woods, meaning that every twenty minutes she would have to stop to climb another horrid tree and reset her bearing. The only good that had happened so far was that each time she looked the brown patch looked more and more promising as to actually being a road.

For two gruelling hours she had been focusing on putting one foot in front of the other and, of course, what she hoped was a road. The routine had moulded itself into her mind and had made her oblivious to much that was going on around her, apart from avoiding a few larger sticks or the occasional hole. When she did suddenly looked up from the green foliage a thin stretch of rich, reddish- brown dirt presented itself in the near distance. She awkwardly sprinted towards the patch of soil, almost tripping over herself when she came to sudden halt.

The road proved to be more of a small trail than a road, but still she smiled, the top-soil of the track was disturbed, usually indicating one thing. Tracks. She crouched down to examine the dirt closely and she was right. It was challenging to decide what had made the tracks as there were so many possibilities, but after further inspection she had decided that they were created by a species of horse, most likely ponies. Her eyes flitted about as she studied the small indents of rounded hooves; they were in a haphazard form of a line, obviously following the trail; amongst the smaller hoof- prints she could single out larger ones, a horse probably; and the left side of the tracks were deeper and slightly scooped out, revealing to her the group was travelling In the left direction.

After her pondering and guessing, she had predicted a few scenarios one of which being that a person, most likely on the horse, was moving a string of ponies through the area. There were many possibilities but whatever the actual situation was it didn't bother Averie. _As long as get home, _she thought to herself. She slowly stood up from her crouching position and shook out the cramps in her legs. After glancing at the sun she estimated a few hours of daylight were left.

She began her unsteady quick limp and followed the path left. The tracks had been quite fresh and if she hurried she might be able to find their source, even on her unsteady feet.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: My deepest apologies for my first chapter! In my rush of excitement about posting it I may or may not have quickly skimmed over my work and not noticed quite obvious mistakes. :/ Again, sorry. I'll be sure to attempt to ****not**** make the same mistake again. Enjoy :) **

Chapter 2:

Averie slumped against a thick tree trunk. She was exhausted, hungry, and sore. Ever since she had found the tracks she'd been relentlessly following, only stopping to give them a further inspection and clarify that she was _actually_ going in the right direction. She only stopped now because her body refused to move until it had been rested. She supposed some rest and sleep wouldn't hurt her. It would give her the energy she needed to continue but… _It'll waste my tracking time, _she thought sadly. As if they knew she was considering continuing for the night, a painful cramp jolted in her legs reminding her why she had stopped in the first place. After a while she decided that she would sleep, but when she woke she would immediately continue.

From her makeshift bed on the grass she gave the late night sky a worried frown. The black abyss had a vast amount of stars scattered throughout it. Stars that were not scattered like they were in the Southern Hemisphere. She shivered and forced her eyes away from yet another concerning oddity they had seen today, and focused them on herself. Apart from being in need of a wash her clothing was fine, her other attire however had seen better days.

Her converse had been a gift for her on her fifteenth birthday. Back then they had that lovely, new shoe smell and were coloured with a solid black. Now their smell was an undetermined odour and the colour was a mixture of murky green-greys and several different shades of brown. They were covered from heel to toe in rips, holes, and slashes, and the thick rubber sole was beginning to wear down dangerously low. She was surprised they had managed to survive five years given the physical nature they had endured.

She took off her tattered converse and sweat-soiled socks, her feet rejoicing in the cool open air. Averie scrunched nose with disgust as she studied the small ankle appendages. She strongly loathed feet. She didn't like the look of them, the feel of them, and she did not like the smell of them. She absolutely loathed them, especially her own. The very thought of feet caused her to shudder and squirm where she sat. She knew it was quite an absurd phobia, her father had told her many times, as she herself and the general population of the world had feet. And for that, Averie was very thankful for shoes and socks, particularly the ones she was putting back on.

She felt her hair in its thick braid. Strands of hair were beginning to fall out of the simple French. She would need to re-braid it soon. However, tonight she lacked the patience and energy. Instead she sunk lower to the ground and curled herself into a ball, her oilskin jacket dwarfing her small frame during its use as a blanket.

Slowly, her eyes drooped as she allowed herself to relax in the cool night air.

When she woke she knew it was early morning. She also knew that rain was beginning its descent, as it had been what initially woke her; rude droplets of water dripping down her face. She sat up hurriedly, quickly rearranged her jacket for travel and began and a fast, stiff walk following the tracks.

The rain was only light- for the moment. She could tell by looking at the heavy onset of dark clouds that it would pour buckets for at least a day. Usually she would be giddy with joy and jumping childishly at the thought of rain. However, at those times she wasn't relying on a set of tracks to aid in her survival, and it was universally known that rain washed away tracks. For Averie that was not a good thing. The smell of rain was already beginning to cling to the air.

Although she did have other means of following the group such as the regular horse droppings and clumps of malted horse hair, not to mention they bruised and flattened vegetation EVERYWHERE they had walked, she would rather use tracks to continue her pursuit.

The rain was had begun transitioning into a slight shower not even ten minutes after Averie had woken. She knew that she shouldn't have been worrying too much about the tracks, they did follow the dirt trail, but if the group was to leave the trail she would most likely be hopelessly lost regardless of the horse excrement. As the rain became heavier the tracks were already becoming disorientated and smudged. She feared that soon they would be unreadable.

Sullenly, she continued to follow the trail. Mimicking her mood, the rain became heavier as she trudged along the damp trail. When she had lost most of the tracks to the unfortunate weather a few that had remained had broken off of the trail, forming their own little path and leading her into a secluded opening of scattered trees. In the very middle of what she assumed was an abandoned campsite, she found small remnants of a fire pit and patches of flattened grass. She held her hand over the fire pit and almost yelped in excitement; the coals covered layers of dirt were still noticeably warm. The group she was following had been here last night, and if she'd kept bloody walking instead of succumbing to cramped legs she would have found them!

She made her way back to the original trail with a hurried skip in her step that screamed "Fuck off rain". This however, seemed to piss off the weather; as soon as she had placed her foot on the trail the light shower became a torrential downpour.

For someone as disadvantaged herself, she was doing surprisingly well; Averie was tired, cold, hungry, and absolutely soaked to the bone, but she was still alive and moving.

Although she had a resemblance similar to that of a drowned rat, she at least didn't need a shower anymore. The rain had caused her thick braid and loose strands of hair to appear a very dark brown, and to be matted heavily against her head. She'd been walking bare-footed through the slick mud for a while, as she had taken her shoes and socks off earlier. She hated the feeling of mud on her feet and between her toes, but ignored it as best she could. _Better than foot rot _she thought to herself.

The tracks had been completely washed away and the trail was quickly becoming a small swimming pool. She could still tell the group had been there though, as they had left deep, dragging slits in the mud. She couldn't tell how long ago they had been made but she hoped she wasn't too far from them, if she was being slowed down by the heavy weather perhaps they were too.

It wasn't long before Averie was cursing the very existence of the changing terrain. The trees were beginning to thin out, scattered rocks seemed to be popping up out of nowhere, and the trail had followed varying levels of sharply inclined slopes.

"Shit" She groaned as she pushed herself up from another fall. She could feel that this time she would find more than small grazes and scrapes. She checked her leg and discovered a worrying injury underneath her knee; the rain was causing the blood pouring from the shallow gash to cascade down her leg in crimson streams. It wasn't too serious but would easily get infected if it wasn't given proper treatment. Averie ripped part of her drenched t-shirt to use as a crude bandage, wrapped her leg as best she could and continued.

She'd already collected numerous bruises and sprained her right ankle. If she continued she would most likely receive worse but still trudged onwards; she wasn't likely to find any shelter anyway and she _could_ be close to the group. It was a large 'could' but she didn't have anything else to put her hope in.

By then end of the day she was literally dragging herself through the mud, still managing to hold onto her converse and socks. She had lied face down in the mud and gave up momentarily, but her well-known stubbornness was determined for her to live and somehow forced her get to her knees and crawl under a tree with large drooping branches. She bought her knees up to her chest and hugged herself tightly in attempt to cling onto any warmth which was not likely considering everything was sodden, cold and miserable.

The rest of her saturated night consisted of tired, annoyed sighs and Averie staring into the deluge of the night, every so often falling in and out of short episodes of sleep.

The next day's events were very much the same as the previous one; more rain, mud, and blood, and Averie moving with slow and sluggish movements through the downpour. The day after that however, began in a much different way.

She woke to the sound of chirping instead of rain. Sun instead of cloud. Her surroundings were still soaked but beginning to dry, leaving it with that strange but welcomed scent of dampness. She smiled weakly as she limped in the warmth of the sun, it was the best thing to happen to her in the past few days. Though all signs of the group had been washed away by the rain she still followed the soggy trail; if she didn't find the group she would at least find a town or some form of civilisation along the forest pathway.

She'd been forced stopped several times during the day to rest her ankle. She could walk on it and move it, but it hurt like a bitch. Now in the light she could see the dark bruising and angry swelling, it was badly sprained but would heal with time and rest. When her black socks were dry enough she pulled them on gently and tied the laces of her (now brown) converse tight enough to give her right ankle sufficient support without cutting off the circulation.

When it was nearing sun set the trail had ceased. There wasn't anything blocking its way, the trail along with the trees just stopped. The thick grass and boulders continued on, as did the flat ground she had been travelling on for the past hour only now it ascended on a steady incline.

Had she been in a physically healthy condition her thinking would have been more logical and cautionary but she only shrugged at the drastic change of environment and began limping up the slope, her paced slowed by her ankle.

As her hindered ascent continued up the small mountain, clumps of trees had formed again and the ground began to level but still maintained its small incline. Averie's energy dwindled dangerously low and by the time the sun had disappeared, was sprawled face-down across the soft grass; pale, sweating, and utterly exhausted. She was perfectly content to lay there in the cool bed of green and sleep forever.

Her stubbornness however, was not agreeable with her easy acceptance of death. _Get off your arse _it whispered to her. "No" She groaned "I want to sleep. Sleep is good" _Get off your arse before I kick the shit out of you. Now Averie. _Her head snapped up. The voice had jogged her process of thought, if she didn't move now she would most likely die. She couldn't die, she told herself. She had to get home. Standing up took more effort than usual but she gritted her teeth through the process and was soon limping again through the small plain of grass and up the small hill.

At first she didn't hear the soft nickering of horses, too focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Gradually as her feet took her closer, the sound was loud enough to be noticeable. Averie stopped and strained her ears towards the familiar noise. She thought her lack of energy was making her delirious, but then she heard the horse, rather horses, anxious neighs sound reverberate through the calm early night atmosphere

From what she could hear she seemed to be going in the right direction and quickened her pace to a staggered jog. She tripped over three times as she continued further up the small hill, the third landing her at the top.

She let out a choked sob at the sight of the ponies but contained her tears of relief. She hobbled towards the anxious mounts, a ridiculously large smile breaking over her face.

"How many more dwarfs is hiding 'round these parts?" Bert asked Ori, the troll giving him a shove with his finger when the young dwarf shook his head adamantly.

"None? Rubbish! The furglarburglarobbit said there was none others but 'ere you lot are" Bert paused a looked over the soon-to-be meals and gave them all a sinister grin, "Tom go find more dwarvses. We'll be 'aving a big feed tonight"

Tom excitedly ran off in the direction of the ponies they'd found earlier, as quickly as his lumbering figure would allow him through the layers of trees.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **I'M SORRY FOR THE WAIT I'M BACK AT BOARDING SCHOOL AGAIN AND THAT MEANS THAT I DON'T GET MUCH TIME APART FROM THE WEEKENDS TO DO THINGS NOT RELATED TO SCHOOL BUT I'LL TRY TO GET CHAPTERS UP AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. So I, unfortunately, again left in a few mistakes. I swear to the Valar that I did re-read and proof-read... But maybe a little bit faster than required to notice actual mistakes. I don't think I left in too many. I JUST GET SO EXCITED ABOUT POSTING THAT I RUSH EVERYTHING I'M SORRY. Also I forgot to disclaim the last chapter and will probably do it numerous times throughout this fanfiction so here is a **disclaimer for the entire fanfiction****: I do not and will never own any of Tolkien's or Peter Jackson's amazing work *Le sad face* The only thing I own in this is Averie.**

Last thing. If any of you want to, feel free to review. I'm sure some constructive criticism will benefit my writing.

Averie tried not to allow her worry to break her calm façade as it would only scare the small horse breed. She could see scattered saddles, equipment and leather packs, but no one to claim ownership. From what she could see there were at least ten members belonging to the group, probably more if she conducted a further investigation. Her first priority however, was to calm down the scared cluster of the thick-furred ponies.

She had been clucking her tongue softly at the ponies and taking small, tentative steps towards them for the past ten minutes. They were huddled together in a small group, nickering anxiously and rearing back nervously.

"It's alright, it's alright. I'm not going to hurt you." She cooed to the white pony closest to her. It was the boldest of the small string; its ears faced forward, listening to her voice. Whilst it eyed her wearily but like many animals, the female pony was beginning to trust her. She, the pony, was slowing her breath, becoming familiar with Averie's scent in deep, steady inhales.

She took another step towards the smaller mount and raised a hand shakily, both actions careful and slow. Not wanting to push her luck, Averie kept her hand raised and her eyes closed as she waited for the pony to close the distance between them- which it did eventually.

She let out a shaky breath that she hadn't remembered holding as the sound of hooves carefully approaching, reached her ears. When the pony was close enough she could feel its breath on her hand, and then its soft, muzzle against her palm. When she looked up from the ground her eyes met the large dark ones, half closed and relaxed. It softly nudged her hand, letting out a content sigh.

It wasn't long before two ponies, one brown and one black, had also joined Averie and were demanding to be patted. She giggled as they nudged her playfully and nibbled on her jacket. Although the other ponies had not moved towards Averie, they still appeared to be calmer than when she had found them.

Now that she'd found the ponies she needed to find their owners, but that would take so much effort… Averie yawned and leaned into the white pony's neck. She was exhausted and ready to punch whoever did this to her in the dick. The ponies were nice enough but she wanted to go home and see _her _horses because that would mean that she was at home. Despite standing up, she began to doze into the white fur.

If her eyes were open and she was mostly conscious and aware of her surroundings, Averie would have noticed the ponies manifesting their anxious behaviour again. Their ears were sharply pointed back and were accompanied by wide eyes and bared teeth. "Shh no let me sleep" Averie moaned tiredly into the pony-sized pillow as it moved around nervously. The pony's calm behaviour was disbanded and Averie was promptly left winded on her back when they bolted.

When she opened her eyes it was understandable as to why the ponies had abandoned her.

She could only stare in shock at the impossibly large and humanoid figure, which in return was grinning down at her hungrily with crooked and yellow teeth.

_What the fuuuuu-_

"You isn't a dwarf" It stomped over to her. Averie's eyes were wide she was frozen with fear apart from her hands which were shaking uncontrollably. "You're short but you aint smelling like one of 'em. Yous is man-woman. Nice and sweet flesh you got on yer bones. Not much though, just 'nough for dessert I reckon"

Charming.

Her quick, shallow breathing ceased when the beast bent down to pick her up and bring her to his nostrils. "You do smell good" It, or rather he, hummed with a satisfied grin. "Bet you taste good too" And then his tongue was on her face. Had Averie not been in shock perhaps she would have let a disgusted cry and wiggled her wait out of his grip, she was now sufficiently lubricated if she chose that was her method of escape. Instead she stared up at his heavy face, her body rigid in its shocked state.

Though her hyperventilating breathing pattern and her constant shaking had returned to her, she was immobile. She willed herself to scream and cry, but her mouth and throat had become almost painfully dry with fear. The most she had managed was a tiny whimper that was either ignored or not heard. Probably the latter.

Branches slapped her harshly, littering her face with red welts and small scratches as she was taken through the canopy of thick trees towards an orange glow. Averie was unable to comprehend what the fuck was actually happening until they broke through a string of trees.

There were two more of the large beings that appeared to be preparing a group of men for eating. Great. She was going to be eaten.

"Oi! Whasis you got there Tom? I fought you was getting more dwarves." The one with an apron jabbed Tom in the chest.

"Yeah," piped in the other "What you bringin' a scrawny rabbit to us for anyways?"

"This aint no rabbit, this here's a man-woman. Get a whiff of her. Good for desert she will be" Averie was shoved under more nostrils, only letting out a pathetic squeak in protest. She was still ripped with shock and fear and was furious with herself, she should have been fighting for life! Not trembling and whimpering! But as angry as she was, fear prevailed.

"Mm she does smell lovely. Chuck her in a sack an' put her wif the others" The leader or cook, she didn't know or care because it really wasn't her biggest problem, ordered and continued to turn the men on the spit.

Tom changed his grip and was dangling her by one arm, an open sack held beneath her.

"NO," Averie screamed. She was almost dumbstruck by her sudden outburst but ignored it. She was determined to go home and her stubbornness was not letting her die. She began wildly kicking out at anything in hopes to loosen Tom's grip. At one stage her foot connected with a large heavy face and the men who were also intended for eating cheered her on. "Keep at it lass!" One of them called, causing her to stop and stare for a second. She'd almost forgotten they were there.

Unfortunately, in her moment of distraction she was enclosed by a tight grip and a massive hand, and almost immediately shoved into a scratchy sack that smelled of death. Perhaps it was Tom who she had kicked with her onslaught of feet because he didn't place her down on the ground softly as she thought he might, as desert was usually treated very well before eaten. Tom however, had thought differently. When she landed she didn't initially realise that she had landed on someone, due to the pop of her shoulder overpowering the noise of an "oof".

She only registered that she was sprawled across someone's chest when there was an almost amused cough above her ear. A blonde, braided moustache was tugged up into a smirk as it met her eyes. Oh dear god. Aerie attempted to scramble up and put as much distance as she could between herself and the terribly gorgeous male she had landed on, but the sack and shoulder only caused her to awkwardly wiggle atop his chest.

"I am so sor- ah" She cried out as pain jolted through her shoulder. As of late, life had decided to be a bitch. Whilst she tried to get herself off his chest without hurting her shoulder, he was smirking and holding back laughter. _Laughter. _This was not funny. She was in pain and practically spread-eagle across his chest… AND they were both going to be eaten! This only added more red to her flaming cheeks.

"Here," Apparently he did have the ability to talk instead of laugh at someone's misfortune "Stay still." She didn't know how he managed to get her from lying on his chest to the ground so painlessly- quite frankly she didn't want to know because something told her it involved thrusts of the pelvic region- but she was thankful.

Averie was now sitting up and cradling her shoulder within the confines of her sack, glaring at the male that Tom had decided to throw her at. Tom and his friends were going about their business preparing them all for eating and through the midst of their loud grunts and unintelligent vocabulary she could hear chuckling. He was _still_ chuckling to himself. They were going to be eaten and he was humoured by her abrupt means of an introduction. "I don't see why yo-"She began, but was cut off as a very short man had piped up about a mistake with the seasoning.

"What about the seasoning?" Bert, she thought that's what he'd been called, peered down at the mouse-like man who was now jumping forward.

"Well have you smelt them? You're going to need something stronger than sage before you plate this lot up." She resented that statement, Tom had said she smelt nice. But, unlike the men around her, Averie didn't voice her protest. She wasn't entirely focused on the conversation until something about skinning dwarves came up.

"What a load of wubbish," She wasn't sure if this was good or bad "I've eaten plenty wif their skins on" Bad maybe? "Scoff 'em I say, boots and all!" Bad.

"He's right," said the one with a gaited walk "Nothing wrong with a bit of raw dwarf" She was surprised that he could move so fast with his giant frame when his arm shot out and snatched a plump man "Nice and crunchy" He waggled his tongue at the morbidly obese red-head.

"N-not that one he's infected! He's got worms in his… tubes?" The obese man was immediately thrown back to the ground, his massive beard smacking Averie in the face. "In fact they all have," Despite just being bitch slapped by hair Averie smiled, what a clever little shit. "They're infested with parasites it's a terrible business I wouldn't risk it I really wouldn't" the man rambled on quickly.

"Parasites? Did he say parasites?" Stupidity had a firm grasp on this group of men, but apparently stupidity could be silenced with a kick. Averie wasn't sure whether to scream at the top of her lungs about parasites as she technically wasn't part of this band of men.

"What would you have us do then, let 'em all go?' Tom shoved the possible saviour with his finger. "You fink I don't know what you're up to. This little ferret is taking us for fools."

"Fools?"

"The dawn will take you all!" Cried a booming voice from atop a bolder. It belonged to an elderly man dressed in grey robes armed with a stick. Because that was going to help.

"Who's that? No idea. Can we eat him too?" Tom, Bert and William queried. The man banged his stick against the boulder and it cracked, causing sunlight to stream through.

And then the three large captors to stone. Stone. "What the fuck?" Averie whispered with a mortified look on her face. Maybe she was stoned.

"And who might you be?" The stick-man was looking down at her-when he had gotten there she didn't know- a bushy eyebrow raised questionably. She replied with a wide-eyed stare and a dazed "What?"

"I said," he gave a sceptical look "Who are you?"

"A-Averie" He looked like he was about to say something else but was interrupted.

"Gandalf, perhaps before you befriend a stranger and possible foe you would consider releasing us from these rancid sacks."

"And so I shall, master dwarf" He walked over to a man, the one who had first protested against parasites, and released him "Oin, if you'd please tend to Miss Averie." The Gandalf character went about releasing the men from their states of imprisonment.

"Oin," a stout man appeared in front of her with an odd ear trumpet and a curt nod "At your service. What ails you lass?"

"Huh?" She was having trouble focusing, everything was happening too fast without an explanation, her head was spinning with confused questions. "What's wrong?" He said slower this time.

"Oh um…" She was trying to think of something to say that would sound relevant to the topic. She hadn't been listening as she was distracted by a man walking past with an axe in his head. She barely felt the material of the sack fall off her, Oin had cut it with a dagger.

"Take your coat off, I need a proper look at ye if I'm to fix ye" He nodded at her coat before going over to a pile of belongings to retrieve a leather bag. She tried to shrug her left arm out of the coat but the task proved overly difficult; her right shoulder was sending out jolts of pain with each movement she made.

"Your shoulder is it?" Oin hummed as he returned to her side "Let's take a gander at it" He gently slipped the oilskin jacket off, even giving her a gruff apology when a small yelp escaped her lips.

"Shite," he said after peeling up the sleeve of her white/brown t-shirt and examining her shoulder "Fili lad, give us a hand for a moment." Averie immediately blushed and looked down when she saw who answered Oin. Wait what? Why the fuck was she blushing?

He walked over with that smug little smile, his braids tugged up along with it. Now in the light she had a much better look at him; Short and broad but muscular, long hair with small braids weaved through it, and an overly attractive face. Now in the light she could see that he was young, but older than her.

"What can I help you with Oin?" He called as he walked over towards them.

"Hold the lass in place and keep her calm," Oin turned to Averie, "I'm going to have to re-locate your shoulder into its socket. Is that all right?" She nodded. She'd dislocated her shoulder once before, but this would probably hurt more considering the force she had landed on it with.

Fili kneeled down on her left out of the way of Oin who was readying himself above her right. She whimpered as Oin had straightened her arm slowly and brought it down to her side.

"It's alright," Fili said in a comforting voice, "Oin knows what he's doing. He's well practiced in medicine and healing. Even done this to me a few times." He gave her an encouraging smile. She was about to return it but let out a cry and reacted a small twist of her hips, pain was searing through her entire upper torso.

"Keep here still lad" Growled Oin, he was in the process of bringing her arms outwards when she moved.

"No sto- ah! It hurts please!" She squirmed against Fili and Oin's iron hold on her. Her shoulder felt like it was on fire.

"Hush now, its fine. It's okay. Your names Averie isn't it?" She gave Fili a short nod, her yes clenched tightly to prevent the inevitable fall of tears. "Averie. That's a nice name. Did your mother choose it?" Fili was trying to distract her from the pain in her should but it really wasn't working. Although she wasn't sobbing her tears had caused her face to become red and puffy. Fili continued asking her questions, most of which she didn't answer due to the pain and not wanting to let out any more pathetic pained sounds.

She tried not to shriek when her shoulder returned to its socket but like her freely flowing tears, it was going to happen whether she wanted it or not. But soon she was letting out relieved shaky breaths, flinching slightly when Oin secured her arm in a sling.

"Try to keep it still as much as possible, it'll feel a bit tender for a while and you'll have some wee bruising. Anything else that needs my attention?" He said as he finished tying off the knot in the sling.

"Yeah my right ankle, it's sprained," then she remembered the small gash "And just below my right knee"

Oin bent down to examine the wound, cursing all the way until he was on one knee. Averie looked around and absentmindedly searched for Fili who had slipped away moments ago. She mentally kicked herself again. What was making her actually give him a second, more like at least fourth, glance? She didn't like how queasy it made her stomach.

"How'd you manage to do this?" Oin asked her as he ruffled through his leather satchel.

"Huh?" She'd been distracted by a mass of gold hair that had caught her attention.

"I said, how'd you do this?" He pulled out a small flask, opened the cap, and took a deep drag of its contents. When he poured some onto a clean cloth she noticed it was a clear liquid with a smell so potent it stung her eyes.

"I fell. Is it bad? I thought I might need stitches"

"It's started to scab over but I would prefer to clean it properly" Oin held a knife and cloth up to the gash. "This might twinge" Averie grimaced but made no objections… or at least stayed silent until he poured the clear liquid over the newly opened wound.

"Ow." She gave a small groan as he dabbed out remnants of liquid and blood. Oin gave her a grunt and stuck his hand back into the open flap of his bag, this time bringing out a jar a green mush. She raised a sceptical eyebrow at him. "It's a salve, it keeps the wound clean and heals it." Hippie.

"Is it meant to itch this much?" She wanted nothing more than to take the green shit out and relieve the almost painful itch within the gash.

"Aye, it means its healing," he swatted her hand away as she fiddled with the cloth around the wound "What in Middle Earth are these supposed to be?" He exclaimed. "No wonder you're injured. Wandering around with these useless thing"

"Well if had planned on waking up in a forest and walking around a wilderness for four days I would have worn more appropriate footwear." She snapped at him.

"Excuse me my dear but did you say 'wake up'?" Gandalf had been standing behind her quietly for the past five minutes or so, quietly pondering to himself.

"Uh… yeah?"

"By which you mean," He walked towards her, "You did not fall asleep there"

"Well I didn't exactly fall asleep, I sort of fell from a tree" Gandalf took a few more paces until he was standing before her, having avoided Oin who was rubbing her ankle with another organic remedy.

"Interesting" And then Gandalf gave himself permission to molest her face with his hand. His rough hand wasn't removed from her face for some time, regardless of her protest. Unfortunately Gandalf had decided to go into a trance-like state, muttering quietly. Oin ignored Gandalf's questionable sanity and continued binding her ankle firmly. Averie sent Gandalf a dark glare when he removed his hand.

"I apologise, my deepest condolences"

"Oh no its fine I enjoy having my face rap-" She was about to continue but was cut off by Gandalf.

"I was not referring to reading you." She wouldn't admit it but she was slightly worried about his sombre voice and forlorn frown.

"What were you referring to then?"

"It would appear that you have been taken from your realm and thrust unto ours, by Eru" She scoffed. That wasn't possible.

"I'm not in the mood for this shit." She warned him.

"Yet you are here whether you are in the mood for It or not."

"Fuck. Off." The last thing she sure before the vision was an advancing hand belonging to Gandalf. Images passed through her sight before she could even think of examining them, her head spinning. She felt like she was there mentally but not physically, like she wasn't complete. She didn't recall much happening apart from the images… and that booming voice. She'd heard it before, she knew she had. It was impossible to forget something like that… something that projected so much power it pounded through your head. And then she was looking at Gandalf again and, somehow, she knew that Gandalf was telling the truth.

Oh dear fucking apparently non-existent god. She lurched forward, making sure to violently wretch straight onto Gandalf's robes.

Yeah soz guys :/ Don't know how I feel about the ending, it was a bit rushed by the end because I just wanted to post it and yeah.


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